Arquivo da categoria: english teaching

When people think of the English language, they usually associate it with American, British, Australian or Canadian English, however English is spoken in many other countries as a native language, and in many others as a second or foreign language.

More than 300 million people around the world speak English as a first language. English is used as an official language in more than 50 states. About 1500 million people speak English as a second language. All in all almost two billion people can speak English. That’s a third of the world’s population.

The statistics show that the most spoken language worldwide is English with almost two billion people being able to speak it, of whom only 375 million are native speakers. This means that you’re much more likely to speak English with someone whose English is their second or foreign language than with a native speaker.

Due to this, if you’re an English learner you might have trouble understanding people depending on where you are and who you’re talking to. In case you’re an English Teacher it’s a nice idea to share this information with your students and even prepare them for the real world. Bearing that in mind, if you’re learning the language in order to work at an international company or travel abroad, you might want to be aware and perhaps start practicing listening to different kinds of English accents, especially the ones you’ll be dealing with.

That being said, let’s see some examples of different accents, shall we?

I hope you enjoyed this post. The idea was not analyzing it in depth, but to g
ive you an overall idea of how broad English is. I believe that it helps us English learners and teachers to understand language a little better.

This week, I decided to share a lesson plan with you. I sometimes use materials shared from other teachers, and I think it’s time to give something in return.

The following lesson plan was created around a viral video called What if a homeless gave you money?, and it was designed to get your students talking. Below the text, you’ll find the links to download the worksheets.

I hope you enjoy it.

How do you define humility?

Topic: Humility

Aims: – To give practice in reading and listening for information and argument – To discuss student’s opinions about this topic

Level: Upper intermediate or above

Introduction: The aim of this lesson is to give students practice in reading, listening and discussing their ideas about a viral video where a man pretends to be homeless. To complement this lesson the students will have the opportunity to read an article about the benefits of being humble.

Procedure

Start the class by introducing the topic of humility. Present the quote below about humility and ask the following questions:

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less” – C.S. Lewis

Do you agree with this quote? Why/ Why not?

How would you define humility?

Is humility a good or a bad thing?

Do you consider yourself humble?

What’s a humble person like?

Have you ever met a really humble person?

What’s the opposite of humility?

Tell the students they’re going to watch a viral video called ‘’What if a homeless gave you money?’’ . Ask them what they think they’ll see in the video. Encourage them to be creative, and then ask the following question or ask them to discuss them in small groups or pairs:

What hope for humility as society celebrates over-confidence, entitlement and the ego?

The poet Tennyson once said that humility is, “the highest virtue, the mother of them all.” Yet society celebrates over-confidence, entitlement and a perpetual focus on the self. People are increasingly competitive, attention-seeking, narcissistic, obsessed with their appearance and entitled.A new study, though, underlines eight ways in which being humble can help us improve our lives (Kesebir, 2014).

The author of the study, psychologist Pelin Kesebir, explains that: “Humility involves a willingness to accept the self’s limits and its place in the grand scheme of things, accompanied by low levels of self-preoccupation.” (Kesebir, 2014). Humility — or ‘a quiet ego’ as she calls it — can be surprisingly powerful in a variety of different ways.

1. Soothe the soul Humble people are better able to cope with anxiety about their mortality.mInstead of erecting self-defenses against death, humble people tend to find it provides a useful perspective on life and how it should be lived. When it’s not all about you, interestingly, it makes death easier to contemplate.

2. Excellence in leadership Humble leaders are not only better liked, as you might imagine, but they are also more effective. Author of a study published in the Academy of Management Journal, Bradley Owens explained (Owens et al., 2011): “Leaders of all ranks view admitting mistakes, spotlighting follower strengths and modeling teachability as being at the core of humble leadership. And they view these three behaviors as being powerful predictors of their own as well as the organization’s growth.”

3. Higher self-control Having high self-control is one key to a successful life. Oddly, perhaps, studies have found that an obsession with the self can paradoxically lead to lower self-control.The humble, though, because they place less importance on the self, exhibit higher self-control in many situations.Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that humble people tend to know their limits.

4. Better work performance The humble not only make better managers, but they also make better employees.A study of employees’ supervisors found that being honest and humble was a good predictor of people’s job performance (Megan et al., 2011).

5. Higher grades Perhaps being a better employee and better manager has its roots in the formative years.A study of 55 students has found that those who were more humble did better academically (Rowatt et al., 2006).Being humble, therefore, may make you better in school.

6. Less prejudice One of the characteristics of being humble is having a low sense of entitlement. Humble people don’t think they are owed things.This leads to a less prejudiced view of the world, encouraging them to be tolerant to others and less defensive about their own beliefs.

7. More helpful Humble people are, on average, more helpful than people who are conceited or egotistical.In a study by LaBouff et al. (2011), participants who were more humble, were more likely to offer help, and offered more of their time, to those in need.Unsurprisingly, humble people have also been found to be more generous.

8. Better relationships Humble people may have better relationships because they accept other people for who they are.A study by Davis et al. (2012) of groups of people found that humility helped to repair relationships and built stronger bonds between people.

Explain any new vocabulary and ask the students to number the benefits of being humble from 1 to 8, where 1 is the most important and 8 the least important. Ask the students to compare their answers and discuss their choices.

Extra practice – Writing

Ask students to brainstorm reasons in favor of and against being humble, and write them on the board.

Ask students to choose what they would like to write about . Reasons for being humble or Reasons for not being humble. The ideal would be to divide the students into 2 groups, one in favor of and the other against being humble

Students create a title for their text and a topic statement.

Students use the brainstormed ideas and ideas of their own to support their topic.